With "The World's End" (opening in theaters this weekend), Edgar Wright delivers the conclusion of his "Cornetto Trilogy" ("Shaun of the Dead" and Hot Fuzz"). The film follows five friends as they reunite in their hometown to attempt an epic pub crawl they failed to complete twenty years before. The final stop on their 12-pub journey is a bar called The World's End. The childhood pals soon discover that to be an apt name, as they find themselves at the center of an alien invasion.
As we prepare for Wright to deliver "The World's End", let's take a look at some other alien invasion movies that deftly blended humor into their sci-fi formulas.
This London-based movie managed to convincingly turn a thuggish street gang into folk heroes. "Attack the Block" is a fast-paced adrenaline rush that makes us laugh when we least expect it. Even though it takes time to be funny, it doesn't hedge its bets on horror. This is a genuinely scary movie, even if it doesn't look like one.
The actual aliens thought up by writer-director Joe Cornish are simple yet effective. Their body structure lies somewhere between ape and wolf, and their pitch black fur is punctuated by mouths full of neon-glowing razor sharp teeth.
One year after Will Smith punched an alien in the face in "Independence Day", he starred in another film that let him kick some alien butt. "Men in Black" paired Smith with a unlikely comedy companion in Tommy Lee Jones, and saw them policing alien activity as members of a super secret organization.
The wise-cracking Fresh Prince had plenty of room to stretch his comedic wings, playing off of the stone-faced Jones. Not to say Jones didn't get in his fair share of yucks. His deadpan professionalism allowed him to keep pace with the youthful Smith, and turn them into a truly dynamic duo.
5) They Live! (1988)John Carpenter's cheesy 80s classic "They Live" isn't blatantly funny, but definitely errs on the side of satire. With professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper in the lead role of Nada, you shouldn't expect much drama. Wearing special sunglasses that allow him to see the true nature of the world, Nada launches a one-man mission to reveal the alien secret hiding all around us.
If you need any convincing that "They Live!" is a special film, check out this actual line of dialogue spoken by Piper: "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum."
Gothic director Tim Burton followed up his career best "Ed Wood" with the candy-colored alien comedy "
Mars Attacks!" As you can predict with Burton, "Mars Attacks!" has an odd sense of humor. One sub-plot involves Sarah Jessica Parker having her head removed and surgically attached to the body of a Chihuahua. "Mars Attacks" is far from Burton's strongest outing but certainly isn't his weakest. Despite its hollowness, this campy homage to 50s B-movies is entertaining without fail.
3) Slither (2006)"Slither" is the film on this list that probably requires the darkest sense of humor to enjoy. If you can find the humor in a woman full of alien parasites stretching to the size of a barn, and then watching her graphically burst at the seams, then you'll have much to chuckle at in James Gunn's creature feature. "Slither" sometimes seems fit for a straight jacket, but still manages to fall within a stone's throw of greatness.
Plus it stars Geek God Nathan Fillion. That automatically makes it magical.
2) Galaxy Quest (1999)The cast of a classic sci-fi series that TOTALLY ISN'T "Star Trek" is mistaken for a real space crew, and is recruited to protect a race of gentle aliens from belligerent enemies. It's not exactly an "invasion" film, but they are aliens and this is my list so shut up.
"Galaxy Quest" is a fantastic satirization of "Star Trek" culture; from Tim Allen's cocky leading man that still carries around huge ego from playing Captain, to the scrawny masses that idolize fictitious characters, this film deserves just as much adoration as the series it lampoons.
Edward D. Wood Jr. was the Orson Welles of bad movies, and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was his "Citizen Kane". Frequently referred to as the worst movie of all time, this no-budget sci-fi debacle has it all: cardboard sets, unbelievably poor acting, laughable special effects, and a completely baffling plot. Allegedly trying to make a point about the aggression of human behavior, "Plan 9" only succeeds as a cautionary tale against bad filmmaking. Now a cult classic, this is sci-fi comedy for all the wrong reasons.
